Proteus has a crude oil pipeline that pulses at a capacity of 425,000 barrels per day in the Mississippi Canyon region of the Gulf and is tied to Noble Energy’s Big Bend and Dantzler fields.

The Endymion line runs for 89 miles through the Mississippi Canyon area region and connects to the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port storage terminal. The oil pipeline has a capacity of 425,000 barrels per day.

The 115-mile-long Cleopatra gas pipeline links five drilling platforms and soon will connect with a sixth platform, which is under construction.

The new interests help position Shell Midstream Partners to benefit from new discoveries in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, CEO John Hollowell said in a statement.

“This acquisition builds builds on our corridor pipeline strategy in the Gulf of Mexico,” Hollowell said. “Our sponsor, Shell Pipeline Co., is currently building the Mattox pipeline to serve the recently sanctioned Appomattox platform. Proteus and Endymion will connect the Mattox pipeline to onshore markets, creating a new corridor line, which will transport all of Appomattox’s volumes once it comes online toward the end of the decade.”

Carbon emissions in 2016 expected to be lowest since 1992

By Ryan Handy

Houston Chronicle

Carbon emissions from U.S energy sources in 2016 are expected to be the lowest in nearly 25 years, according to an analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Carbon emissions for the first six months of 2016 hit a record low — emissions were 2,530 million metric tons, which was the lowest for the first half of a year since 1991. An analysis by the department’s Energy Information Administration attributes the drop to mild weather and the shift from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas and renewable energy in U.S. power production.

Warmer winter weather during the first six months of this year kept demand for heating fuels, like natural gas and heating oil, lower. Overall, the winter of 2016 had the fewest heating degree days since 1949 — heating degree days are the number of days when temperatures drop below 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

But changing energy sources also helped drive emissions down to a record low. Coal consumption dropped during the first six months of 2016, by 18 percent. This fall, the EIA said that coal production in the U.S. was on track to be the lowest since 1978.

The use of wind energy, hydroelectric power and solar energy also increased during the first six months of 2016. Most of the increase in renewable power came from wind energy, but hydroelectric power also increased as drought conditions lessened on the West Coast.